LEOMINSTER -- Amy Wexler moved from the San Francisco Bay area to North Central Massachusetts 11 years ago and was amazed at the way we eat.

It certainly wasn't the earthy crunchy kind of healthy food so many people in California are known for enjoying.

New Englanders diets have gotten a whole lot better since then but it can still be difficult to find natural and wholesome foods, especially for people who suffer from allergies, Wexler said.

Wexler has a sensitive digestive system and needs to eat gluten-free foods and she enjoys healthy foods for her family so she often shops at Trader Joe's in Acton.

That's a pretty good drive from Leominster to go grocery shopping.

"The one in Acton is on Great Road at the Concord line, and it's ridiculous to get to because it's right on the rotary," Wexler said.

She has started a petition encouraging Monrovia, Calif.-based Trader Joe's to open a store in the Twin Cities region.

"I feel it would be a fantastic anchor for our community," Wexler said. "It would bring people into Leominster."

Wexler started a Facebook page to build support and collect testimonials.

She has a petition on Change.org that is automatically sent to Trader Joe's corporate offices whenever it meets predetermined thresholds such as 100 signatures.

Wexler is also pounding the pavement to drum up support.

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"I pull stunts here and there to get as many signatures as possible in a short term," she said.

She hands out business cards asking strangers to sign her online petition.

Wexler also made up a sign to hold up for passing traffic asking to support the petition.

Trader Joe's clearly marks its food gluten-free for customers. There are also markings for vegan food and other specialty categories.

The food chain made a commitment last year not to sell anything with antibiotics or hormones in it, Wexler said.

As of Dec. 31 all its seafood will be sustainable, and it tests for mercury levels.

"If something is overfished, overcaught, or is having a bad year they will not sell it," Wexler said.

Type "bring Trader Joe's into Facebook and a long list of sites pops up with people looking for stores in the four corners of the country; everywhere from Harrisburg, Pa., to Broward County, Fla., Yakima, Wash., and Hawaii.

Wexler called her page Build A Trader Joe's in Leominster.

Her Facebook page has been enjoying success since she opened it Nov. 30.

It had 609 Facebook likes as of Wednesday and there were 344 signatures for her petition.

Supporters have been posting testimonials for their support.

"Trader Joe's is all about organic, environment and saving people money," wrote one friend. "They should open in Leominster so all of their customers in this area can save gas, thereby saving the environment while shopping close to home."

Another shopper said the store is more affordable than its reputation.

"Their prices are very reasonable, and they offer quality products," she wrote. "It would be nice to have an alternative store to shop. I travel to the stores in Acton, Bedford and Framingham and what I would save on gas would allow me to buy even more."

A shopper said she likes the store because it does not sell genetically modified organisms in its food.

"It is very difficult to find non-GMO food in other stores," she wrote.

Friends on the Facebook page drive from as far as Orange, Athol, Petersham, Princeton and Gardner to find Trader Joe's stores, Wexler said.

There are 85,000 people in the twin cities of Leominster and Fitchburg to support a store, and about 383,000 in the 32 communities that are within a 10-mile radius of Leominster, she said.

Mayor Dean Mazzarella is pro-business and would welcome a new store with mixed feelings since there is already a similar independently owned store named Roots Natural Foods on Crawford Street.

"It's a smaller version of it so we don't want to hurt anybody locally but the concept is nice," Mazzarella said.

Marieke Cormier owns Roots after the death of her mother, founder Ellen Jonkers last year.

Cormier has seen Wexler's Facebook page.

Many of her customers shop at Trader Joe's and Whole Foods, as well, she said.

Wexler is one of her customers and even has a Roots bumper sticker.

Cormier has mixed feelings about the idea of a Trader Joe's opening a store in Leominster.

She believes everybody should have opportunities to buy healthy food but enjoys the lack of competition.

There are similarities between the stores but significant differences, too, Cormier said.

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